Weekly rankings

Where does your team stand? Updating the 12 Texas FBS college football teams after the final regular season games

Fred Faour
Nov 26, 2017, 7:46 am
TCU stands alone as the best in the state. Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images

Texas has 12 FBS teams. Each week we ranked them based on season-long performance, the prior game, and success relative to their level. These are the rankings after the final regular season games.  Eight of the 12 are bowl eligible, but the bottom four combined to go 4-44, averaging one measley win per team. We will do one more update after the bowl season.

No. 12: UTEP (0-12)

The Miners completed a winless season with a 28-7 loss to a UAB team that did not exist a couple years ago. It was a brutal year start to finish, including a coaching change midseason. Serious overhaul time.

No. 11: Rice (1-11)

The Owls dismal season came to a fitting end with a 30-14 home loss to a solid North Texas team. David Bailiff has done a nice job with the team in the past, but two awful seasons probably means the end of his tenure. 

No. 10: Texas State (2-10)

The Bobcats, like the teams below them, were terrible this year, going just 2-10. All three should be relegated to FCS.

No. 9: Baylor (1-11)

The Bears showed a little life against TCU, but ultimately dropped a 45-22 decision. The Bears, too, should be relegated. That's something soccer gets right. The real question is can this team be anything other than Kansas (the only win this season) without cutting corners and allowing one of the most disturbing scandals in college football history? The future looks uncertain.

No. 8: UTSA (6-5)

What started out as a promising season went to hell over the second half. A 6-5 mark has to be considered a disappointment for a program that looked to be on the rise.

No. 7: SMU (7-5)

The Ponies finished off a 7-5 season with a 41-38 shootout win over improving Tulane. The bigger question is will Chad Morris continue to be the coach? He did about as well as could be expected at a school like SMU, and there are lots of big jobs available.

No. 6: Texas (6-6)

Tom Herman's first season has to be considered a disappointment. A one-game improvement over Charlie Strong's last season was not what was expected of Herman. Seasons like 5-7 and 6-6 were rarities at Texas for decades. Is the program simply not what it was? Herman should make a big jump in year two, but there was not much different about the Longhorns in 2017, and they should never be lower than third on this list.

No. 5: Texas Tech (6-6)

Kliff Kingsbury saved his job and got the Raiders bowl eligible by upsetting Texas. It was a weird, up and down year for Tech, which got wins over Arizona State, Houston and Texas but also featured several poor performances against better teams.

No. 4: Houston (7-4)

This season screamed Tony Levine. Waiting too long to change quarterbacks, dropping close games to Tech and Memphis and puzzling tail whippings by Tulsa and Tulane. That simply is not good enough for Major Applewhite, and things must improve. Houston has every advantage in the AAC and seven wins won't cut it. They did close out with a good victory against Navy 24-14 and D'Eriq King looks like the next big thing at QB but like Texas, more is expected.

No. 3: Texas A&M (7-5)

The Aggies were pummeled by LSU again, 45-21 this time. Talent wise, they are every bit as good as LSU. Buth they made silly mistakes, turned the ball over and the Kevin Sumlin era likely ended with another loss to the Tigers. 

No. 2: North Texas (9-3)

It seems high, sure. And could they beat many of the teams behind them? Probably not (after all, they did lose to SMU.) But the Mean Green won their division of C-USA and get to play Florida Atlantic for the conference championship. FAU stomped them the first time around but they are one of just two Texas teams who will be playing for something next week. A strong season for Seth Littrell, who will get some interest from bigger schools as well.

No. 1: TCU (10-2)

The Frogs get another shot at Oklahoma in the contrived Big 12 Championship game. It might only serve to knock the Big 12 out of the playoffs if TCU can win (and they can). A two-loss TCU probably has no shot at the top four, considering they would have to, um, leap frog (see what I did there?) a 1-loss Alabama, a 1-loss Clemson or Miami, a Big 10 champ and an SEC champ. That Iowa State loss looms big. Still, another excellent season from Gary Patterson and his crew. 

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Here are the Texans' biggest challenges, opportunities against Steelers

The Texans host the Steelers at NRG this Sunday. Composite Getty Image.

What: Texans vs. Steelers

When: 10/1 12pm CST kickoff

Where: Houston, TX NRG Stadium

TV/Radio: KHOU-TV, KILT-Radio

Betting Lines: Steelers -2.5 (-120), O/U 42 (-110) *As of this writing

The Watt Brother Bowl takes place on Sunday. I'm calling it that because the Texans are honoring their all-time great J.J. while they're playing his younger brother and current hell raising edge rusher for the Steelers T.J. The Steelers have won four of the last five matchups vs. the Texans by an average score of 28-17. The biggest difference is that the Steelers have a second year starter at quarterback in Kenny Pickett, and the Texans have a rookie in C.J. Stroud. When you look at the two quarterbacks, both organizations have full faith in each guy. Both teams have tried to build a defense to help their young signal callers. Both are still trying to surround their franchise guys with weapons.

When the Steelers have the ball: Here's a game where Will Anderson Jr can make headway as a proven EDGE. Stacking consistent performances together and helping your team win games by making winning plays. It helps that Pickett has tiny hands. This was a knock on him during draft season last year. Hand size for a quarterback impacts grip. That can not only impact accuracy, but it could make it easier to strip the ball from him.

While he doesn't have the weapons to torch this defense, Pickett does hand the ball off to Najee Harris who's more than capable. Averaging only 67 yards rushing as a team can't be taken lightly. Denzel Perryman is expected to miss the game Sunday, so hopefully that won't help jumpstart the Steelers' run game. The Texans defense will have to key in on the run, given that they average giving up 117 a game on the ground. Those aforementioned weapons may not be scary, but the injuries to the defensive backs has hurt. Tavierre Thomas is expected to miss the game recovering from hand surgery. Jimmie Ward coming back last week showed what happens when they have a top safety back there, especially when the pass rush is turning up. Hopefully, the Texans can capitalize again this week, with safety Jalen Pitre expected to return to action.

When the Texans have the ball: Good luck stopping Tank Dell and Stroud! These guys have already established themselves as a formidable duo three games into their careers. A great way to get that connection going is to pound the rock. The Steelers are giving up over 150 yards on the ground per game so far this season. That's also a good way to keep T.J. at bay while J.J. watches. With Laremy Tunsil and Josh Jones both expected to miss the game, here are the offensive line starters: Austin Deculus, Kendrick Green, Jarrett Patterson, Shaq Mason, and George Fant.

Making the younger Watt brother slow down a bit instead of going balls to the wall after Stroud because a run could be coming will help the pass game tremendously. Stroud will have to continue to make quick decisions, but even quicker this game. I wouldn't be surprised to see his first pick of his career here, given the pressure he's most likely to be under. Especially when your offensive line starters were mostly all backups to begin this season.

Outcome: I failed to place a money line bet on the Texans last week because the game started and the live bet wasn't as profitable. I wanted to take a chance on them given their recent record against the Jags. Looking at their last five vs. the Steelers, one would say why make that bet this week? It's because I believe in Stroud more than I believe in Pickett. While T.J. Watt is a different kind of monster, Will Anderson Jr is on his way to becoming something special. Texans win/cover, and hit the over, but barely: Texans 24, Steelers 20.

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